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We know reporting can be a challenge, especially when it comes to proving ROI to your C-Suite executives. Adding tools like Google Tag Manager (GTM)...
For good reason, and this year, more than ever, content really is king. Are you curious why it's on the priority list for the marketers we surveyed?...
The measures of success for marketers have finally become much clearer. Or have they? Although the science of marketing has opened new avenues for...
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Senior Marketing
by Patrick Eslinger | Dec 30, 2020 | Buzz Worthy, Digital Marketing, Industry 3 min read
We know reporting can be a challenge, especially when it comes to proving ROI to your C-Suite executives. Adding tools like Google Tag Manager (GTM) to your toolbelt can help you bridge the gap. Building your digital toolbelt In the world of digital marketing, we fall...
by Laura Oliveto | Dec 15, 2020 | Content Creation, Industry, Thought Leadership 7 min read
For good reason, and this year, more than ever, content really is king. Are you curious why it's on the priority list for the marketers we surveyed? Because it now needs to be a high priority for any internal marketing team's resource management plan. Not every team...
by Amanda Farley | Nov 30, 2020 | Buzz Worthy, Industry, Team, Thought Leadership 4 min read
The measures of success for marketers have finally become much clearer. Or have they? Although the science of marketing has opened new avenues for measurement, an SSDM exclusive survey shows that marketing leaders are still conflicted about goals and results....
by SSDM | Nov 23, 2020 | Awards, Buzz Worthy, Team 2 min read
SSDM is excited to keep "Metro Detroit's Best and Brightest" on its roster of accolades. SSDM is on a winning streak! For the second year in a row, SSDM has been named one of Metropolitan Detroit's Best and Brightest Companies to Work For®, presented by...
by SSDM | Nov 20, 2020 | Buzz Worthy, Culture, Team 3 min read
When SSDM was a very young company, Kelsey Fish worked as an account executive here, writing content and providing SEO support for SSDM clients. We are delighted that she is back, as Client Experience Manager. On the moveKelsey has been on the move since she was a...
The internal marketing team of 2021: What you need
by Nick Skislak | Nov 18, 2020 | Buzz Worthy, Industry, Thought Leadership 5 min read
2020 may have been the year that spurred management to determine that your company needs its own internal marketing team. If you've been making do with the assorted knowledge resident within your traditional marketing team, the pandemic forced a change in strategic...
by SSDM | Nov 6, 2020 | Buzz Worthy, Culture, Team 2 min read
Psychologist or journalist? When she was growing up, Marissa at one time or another wanted to be one of them … or a singer or a graphic or interior designer. What she found was that a career in digital marketing provides the opportunity to satisfy quite a...
From symphony to synchrony
by Michael Taylor | Oct 30, 2020 | Buzz Worthy, Design + Technology, Team, Thought Leadership 3 min read
The nexus of technology and creativity is the sweet spot for SSDM creative director and partner, Michael J. Taylor II. Creative problem solving In an earlier career iteration, as a music producer and recording engineer, I came to appreciate the blending of technology...
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Star Ocean: The Last Hope review
Final frontier meets Final Fantasy once more, this time on the 360
By Will_Groves 2009-03-06T03:28:25.64Z Review
Real-time combat and blindside attacks
Switching between all eight characters
Nice looks
Where are all the damn save spots?
Cut scenes and dungeons both too long
Cringe-worthy voice acting
Despite the fact that Star Ocean: The Last Hope swaps the usual swords and dragons setting for spaceships and aliens (but keeps magic – go figure), the least typical thing about this sci-fi role-playing game is it's combat. Most Japanese RPGs stick with the tried-and-true turn-based system – or its close relative, the Active Time Battle system, in which each character takes turns waiting for his or her or its meter to fill up between actions. Star Ocean: The Last Hope instead delivers all-out, full-tilt, real-time battles.
Don't go thinking that this focus on speed means that combat is dumbed down and you won't need strategy. It hasn't been – you just need to do everything faster. There are four characters to swap between at any time during battle (actually eight, if you count the fact that you can also switch characters in and out of your party on the fly as well) and a ton of skills and abilities to learn. Add in a special attack called a "blindside", in which you're given the chance to attack your enemy's vulnerable rear if you wait for the last possible second to counter, and you have an adrenalized battle system that really sets the game apart from most of its more relaxed, plodding contemporaries.
In most every other way, Star Ocean: The Last Hope is the prototypical, top-notch Japanese RPG. The detailed graphics look like Star Wars gone psychedelic, with crazily over the top outfits and more bright colors bouncing around than a disco party at a clown college. It has a young but gifted main character (named Edge Maverick, believe it or not) and a small battalion of seven customizable cohorts whose stiff, overly cartoon-y voice actors miss as much as they hit.
It sends this on a vast adventure built around an epic concept – you start off looking for a new home for humanity after World War III trashed our home planet, and things actually get bigger from there. It's decidedly, unabashedly cute despite this very serious premise and the fact that you kill nearly every living thing you encounter. There are side quests, many of which seem oddly unimportant considering the urgency of your main goal, but you do them first anyhow. And you can make things out of the various animal parts, plants, gems and debris you find.
Unfortunately, SO:TLH even sticks to some annoying JRPG traditions we'd rather forget. It's so miserly with the save points (why do we even NEED save points these days?) you'd think the developers had to sacrifice a child everything they placed one. And it alternates between talking way too much, telling its story through excessively long-winded cut scenes, and grinding you into numbness with dungeons so big that exploring them sometimes switches from "this is fun!" to "this is work."
Of course, that's all part of being a Japanese RPG, so some fans will find the depth and challenge delightful. If you think you can sack up and deal with quick battles balanced by long, slow everything else, there's no doubt that Star Ocean: The Last Hope will deliver a ton of Japanese RPG goodness.
Description Mankind wanders the universe in Valykrie Profile developer tri-Ace's newest, a prequel to this long-running franchise.
Platform Xbox 360
US censor rating Teen
UK censor rating Rating Pending
Alternative names Star Ocean 4
Release date 24 February 2009 (US), (UK)


Brandon West On How We Need To Adjust To The Future Of Work
Increased focus on security.
karenmangia
Increased focus on security. More systems operating in the cloud, more code running, and more internet-enabled devices, there's just more surface area for potential attacks. Ransomware attacks doubled in 2021. More employees working remotely means more potential victims of phishing or smishing attacks. Security is definitely a market that will continue to expand.
When it comes to designing the future of work, one size fits none. Discovering success isn't about a hybrid model or offering remote work options. Individuals and organizations are looking for more freedom. The freedom to choose the work model that makes the most sense. The freedom to choose their own values. And the freedom to pursue what matters most. We reached out to successful leaders and thought leaders across all industries to glean their insights and predictions about how to create a future that works.
As a part of our interview series called "How Employers and Employees are Reworking Work Together," we had the pleasure to interview Brandon West.
Brandon West is a Senior Technical Evangelist at Datadog (via acquisition of CoScreen), where he helps developers build apps with modern monitoring and security. Brandon has worked in tech as a software developer since 1999, with a focus on educating and empowering other developers in developer relations roles since 2011. He has built and led teams distributed teams as Senior Director of Community at SendGrid and as Senior Manager of Developer Relations for the Americas at AWS. Brandon and has travelled around the world speaking about software development, cloud computing, and devrel, and currently resides in Seattle, Washington.
Thank you for making time to visit with us about the topic of our time. Let's get to know you a bit — what are one or two life experiences that led you to where you are today (professionally and/or personally).
I was interested in video games and computers as a kid, so I was always playing around with things. Oddly enough, trading mp3s on Napster is kind of what led to me pursuing software development as a job. I've written about this on Twitter, but to summarize, I lucked into being an early user of Napster, became an admin, and had an ICQ chat with Shawn Fanning that inspired me to learn to write code professionally. So I did.
The other thing that has had a big impact on my life is playing music. Me and some friends were bored during the end of our time in high school, so we bought some music gear and started a thrash metal band. It was a lot of fun, and it was also a very humbling experience to get up on stage at bars where we weren't even old enough to drink and just absolutely suck for our first few shows. After that, I've never really been afraid to jump on stage at a conference or speak at an event. There's no way I can bomb harder than I've bombed before.
Let's zoom out. What do you predict will be the same about work, the workforce and the workplace 10–15 years from now? What do you predict will be different?
I don't believe any of the metaverse hype. It's the same dream I've been sold since the days of Sega VR in 1994 and Second Life again a decade later. In 15 years I think we'll be operating in more or less the same modes as we are today, whether remote or hybrid or fully on-site, just with different and better tools, such as CoScreen. Maybe there will be a meeting or event here or there where a virtual component might make sense, but I'm skeptical that we need an entirely new modality where we strap computers to our faces.
These last few years have seen a lot of job hopping and relatively short tenures, at least in tech. And rightfully so; the ground shifted under us and we all had a chance to re-evaluate what we wanted. On top of that, if you weren't open to offers even when employed, you were more likely than not leaving money on the table. I think that's going to cool off and we'll see longer tenures again. The attention that companies are now paying to culture and retention will bear fruit, as will some of the shift from equity-heavy compensation to higher base pay.
What advice would you offer to employers who want to future-proof their organizations?
Everything starts with building a strong culture and providing psychological safety to your team. Those things will always transcend trends and technological shifts, as long as you design resilient processes to evaluate and adjust as needed. It's never too early to start thinking about culture and reinforcing your values through how you conduct your meetings and organize your business.
I also think it's important to have a practice of reviewing and adjusting recurring meetings on a regular cadence to make sure that the audience, content, and channel continue to fit the purpose of the meeting. If you're using Zoom for everything, you've probably got room for improvement.
What do you predict will be the biggest gaps between what employers are willing to offer and what employees expect as we move forward? And what strategies would you offer about how to reconcile those gaps?
Many companies are still in a transitional period when it comes to supporting remote work or hybrid work. Developing that muscle quickly is important so employees aren't left with questions that don't have good answers. I've seen some companies like GitLab create roles with titles like "Head of Remote" to focus on that gap. I think we'll see more of that, and it's probably a good idea. It's a critical thing to get right, but getting it right also largely depends on the context. Making remote culture an on-going point of emphasis with high visibility will pay dividends.
We simultaneously joined a global experiment together last year called "Working From Home." How will this experience influence the future of work?
I'm in the camp that makes a point to separate "Working From Home '' and "Working During a Pandemic," because I've worked from home before, and these last couple years have not been normal. Working from home doesn't mean schools are closed, or that you get anxiety about going to the grocery store, or that all the other adults in your home are also working from home, and that kind of thing. There have been a lot of folks exposed to some big downsides. I know plenty of people that can't wait to get back to the office.
The big, sustained cultural shift will come from the businesses that realized roles that they thought required being at an office actually didn't need to be managed that way. A lot of businesses have now made the investment in equipment and tools and services to support remote employees, and I expect most employers will continue to enable those things, at least to some degree.
We've all read the headlines about how the pandemic reshaped the workforce. What societal changes do you foresee as necessary to support a future of work that works for everyone?
People need to be able to trust that they will be insured and have access to healthcare and medication regardless of their employment status. In the U.S., the negative economic impacts of the pandemic have disproportionately affected lower-wage workers (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3828096). A future that exposes healthcare workers, teachers, delivery drivers, and other essential members of society to undue risk won't be sustainable.
What is your greatest source of optimism about the future of work?
I think decoupling where work is being done from the work itself is going to have a lot of benefits for a lot of different communities. Where a person is from will have less of an impact on their ability to get a job that pays well, and that creates opportunity.
Our collective mental health and wellbeing are now considered collateral as we consider the future of work. What innovative strategies do you see employers offering to help improve and optimize their employee's mental health and wellbeing?
There are a lot of articles out there about four-day work weeks and wellness stipends and better mental health benefits. All of those things are great, but the truth is that a few zoom therapy sessions with a counselor from an online portal aren't going to be the difference maker in whether or not someone burns out. At one company that I worked at early in my career, the bosses bought a pool table for the break room after a grueling quarter. We played pool every day until someone made a comment that we were wasting time playing instead of working. Creating a good culture is an ongoing process that takes consistent practice. Many of the tried-and-true ways of improving employee wellbeing seem innovative now because they were ignored for a while.
Things like not contacting employees after work hours unless there's an emergency take more discipline now due to the rise of emails and slack messages and smartphones, especially for those not used to working remotely. The companies that I think are doing the best do the hard work of caring about their employees, listening to their feedback, fostering psychological safety, and offering fair chances at promotions and raises relative to opportunities outside of the company. They create a culture that makes employees feel good and fairly valued, and lets them speak up when their needs aren't met.
It seems like there's a new headline every day. 'The Great Resignation'. 'The Great Reconfiguration'. And now the 'Great Reevaluation'. What are the most important messages leaders need to hear from these headlines? How do company cultures need to evolve?
The biggest thing that leaders should take away from these headlines is that employees have more choice and more power now than they did previously, so they're being more thoughtful about where they choose to work. Companies with strong cultures likely don't need to evolve very much, as these cultures tend to be responsive to change and introspective when needed. Those businesses should instead focus on fair compensation and keeping up with the increasing market rates.
For companies that are struggling, my advice is to focus on your meetings. Meetings are your company's values made manifest. The way they are structured, who gets to speak, the channel used, the level of transparency around operations, the types of accomplishments that are celebrated and so on all demonstrate what the business cares about more so than the values that are written in the company wiki. Be intentional about your meetings and how they are run. Make sure you have leaders that are modeling aspirational values during meetings. Pay attention to disconnects between the level of complexity of information being conveyed and the channel used to communicate it (this usually sounds like "this could've been an email.") These are chances to make things better. Meetings should be for generating new ideas, collaborating, or establishing a sense of rapport rather than just sharing information.
Let's get more specific. What are your "Top 5 Trends To Track In the Future of Work?"
Continued/Accelerated cloud adoption
It seems strange to say, but we're still early in the grand scheme of cloud adoption. As more and more companies move their workloads to the cloud, the more experience they get operating things in the cloud, which leads them to build more things in the cloud. The flywheel will continue to spin. It's been said that every company is in some form a technology company these days, and while I don't believe that's true from an engineering perspective, it doesn't have to be true to mean that cloud adoption will continue to soar. Builders using no code tools are probably using tools hosted in the cloud.
Increased focus on security
More systems operating in the cloud, more code running, and more internet-enabled devices, there's just more surface area for potential attacks. Ransomware attacks doubled in 2021 (https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/2021/results-and-analysis/). More employees working remotely means more potential victims of phishing or smishing attacks. Security is definitely a market that will continue to expand.
More low code/no code tools
There are already some very powerful platforms that let people without coding skills connect different services, transform data, trigger events, and automate complex workflows. I believe we'll see this particular market segment heat up a lot. It's a natural progression of abstraction and user experience improvements after the rise of services with public APIs. I've been a part of several developer relations teams that have tons of coding skills but still choose to build some workflows like event tracking or chat moderation using no code tools, especially for things that are likely to evolve. It's faster and less complex than coding and can be handed off to other teammates more easily without requiring a bunch of documentation and install scripts.
Less Zoom, more apps for specific needs
People are sick of being on camera all the time. Even Zoom's CEO got tired of video conferences. There's often a disconnect between the level of focus the content being discussed requires, and the level of attention it takes to be on camera. People become disengaged because they feel like they can't contribute.
In terms of remote work, we're still early on, and there are a lot of companies, like CoScreen, that are building new and interesting ways to collaborate that aren't just another video conference. As companies build their remote working muscles, we'll see them adopt some of these newer approaches.
More focus on developing junior talent
When recruiting is difficult, having a way to turn potential into talent can be a big win in the long-term. Early on at SendGrid, we hired several extremely capable folks right out of university for our Developer Relations team, for two reasons: finding developer advocates in 2012 was very difficult because it was relatively nascent compared to today, and we were a startup with limited budget and funds. Hiring and developing talent enabled us to scale the team and find amazing teammates before someone else did. It takes a very deliberate approach to provide junior employees with structure and coaching to help them succeed. I expect more tech companies to create teams and programs for those that are earlier in their careers in order to supplement their talent pipeline and broaden the pool of candidates.
I keep quotes on my desk and on scraps of paper to stay inspired. What's your favorite "Life Lesson Quote"? And how has this quote shaped your perspective?
One of my favorites is from Maya Angelou: "[P]eople will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Working in developer relations requires cultivating empathy whenever possible, and that means trying to think about how other people feel. The biggest wins in my career have been when people tell me years later that some advice I gave them had a meaningful impact, and the worst losses are when I've forgotten who someone is or confused their accomplishments and made them feel unimportant. I try my best to be kind and consider how my actions make others feel.
Is there a person in the world with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why?
I'm going to go with Bill Murray or maybe Snoop Dogg, because they seem like they wouldn't mind the intrusion. If I were having a cup of coffee with some Nobel Prize winning author or an esteemed world leader, I'd feel a lot of pressure to ask interesting questions. I'd be worried that I was wasting their time with silly conversation when they should be busy saving the world or something. But I imagine sharing a breakfast burrito with Bill or Snoop would be cracking jokes and hanging out, which sounds nice.
Our readers often like to continue the conversation with our featured interviewees. How can they best connect with you and stay current on what you're discovering?
I'm most active on twitter, where I'm @bwest. I'm looking forward to more conversations!
Thank you for sharing your insights and predictions. We appreciate the gift of your time and wish you continued success and good health.


U.S. Martial Arts Network.com
Official Website Of The
United States - National Karate & Kung-Fu Union
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Divisional, Regional, State & Tri-State National Events & Tournaments
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T.U.M.A.A. - Teach's Universal Martial Arts Association
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September 21, 2021 - 10:12am
Dr. LeAnn Starlin Nilsson joins the Sing Stark Board of Trustees
We are thrilled to welcome Dr. LeAnn Starlin Nilsson to the Sing Stark Board of Trustees. LeAnn serves as Asst. Dean of Recruitment and Retention for the College of the Arts, Kent State University. Outside of work, LeAnn ...
1 in 6 Americans sings in a choir!
1 in 6 Americans sings in a choir — and they're healthier for it!
Laughter erupted as members of the Pittsburgh Concert Chorale warmed up their...
November 22, 2019 - 3:30pm
By Stephen Raskauskas | July 23, 2018
A new study conducted by O2, a company which owns some of United Kingdom's largest music venues, and Patrick Fagan claims that attending live concerts can help...
Whether you sing professionally or as part of a community choir, you need to take care of your voice. Your vocal cords are delicate and unique, and singing your best means treating them...
Vox Audio Lights Up The Palace Stage
This weekend our 16 member a capella ensemble dazzeled audiences at this year's Canton Christmas Spectacular. Vox Audio joined the members of the Stardust Dinner Theater who performed the radio adaptation to the Christmas Classic "It's...
SINGSTARK! | Featured in About Magazine
Written By Alison Matas / November 7, 2019
SingStark! has been making music in Stark County for 80 years, but now it's got a new name and a new sound.
You know SingStark! as VOCI, which was originally founded as the...
November 3, 2019 - 4:34pm
Sing Stark welcomes Lou Poppovich to the Board of Trustees! Mr. Poppovich's longtime dedication to the arts in Stark County demonstrates a passion that will assist the organization as it pursues new choral initiatives.
Official Press Release: VOCI is Rebranding!
The Voices of Canton Celebrating 80th Anniversary Season with a New Look
The Voices of Canton is celebrating its 80th Anniversary Season with a rebrand and new programs fostering the "Joy of Singing...
August 13, 2019 - 12:16pm
Vox Audio Auditions
Sing Stark announces auditions for the second season of VOX AUDIO, Canton's...
The performance of The Voyage postponed.
The performance of The Voyage by Bob Chicott has been postponed to a future season. For questions regarding ticketing, please call the box office at 330.452.4098.
Senior Sing at Aultman Hospital
Senior Sing gave an afternoon perfromance in the lobby of Aultman Hospital. In partnership with Aultman Generations and sponsored by Chapel Hill Retirement Community, Stark County seniors sing to garner the proven health and wellness benefits of singing in a choir. The next session begins March...
The community welcomes VOX AUDIO
On December 17th, VOX AUDIO gave their premiere performance to an audience of more than 800 patrons at the Glen Oak Performing Arts Center. Voices of Canton's newest ensemble, directed by Brian Kieffer, sang in the Holidays in a cappella style.


University Rankings and Student Reviews
rankings-reviews
University of Seville is ranked 401 in Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and has an overall score of 3.9 stars, according to student reviews on Studyportals, the best place to find out how students rate their study and living experience at universities from all over the world.
On this page you can see how the university is ranked on international rankings and find out what students are saying about their study experience.
View all 0 Masters from this university Find out more about this university
University World Rankings
Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Best Global Universities Rankings by U.S. News & World Report
QS World University Rankings by TopUniversities
World University Rankings by Times Higher Education
Latest positive review:
Lo que más me gusta de mi universidad es la buena relación que hay entre alumnos y profesores, siempre dispuestos a negociar para el beneficio de todos.
Latest critical review:
Mi experiencia educativa en la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de Sevilla es absolutamente deficiente y patética. Nadie se preocupa porque los estudiantes aprendamos y lo último que le interesa al profesorado (especialmente el profesorado que es personal hospitalario) es mejorar la forma de impartir docencia.
Why are student reviews important?
Spain attracts thousands of international students every year with its friendly and laid-back lifestyle. The weather is also excellent, allowing you to enjoy the warmth of the sun and relaxing beaches when you're not in class. Higher education institutions charge relatively low tuition fees and go head-to-head with other big-name institutions worldwide. Spanish universities are well known for their offer of prestigious Business studies. You'll also have the opportunity to learn Spanish, which is a great asset on any CV, especially if you want to start a career in Spain or at a multinational company.
Read more about studying abroad in Spain
University of Seville is located in Sevilla, Spain and is featured in the best 1000 universities in the world, according to the most well-known international university rankings. Find out its position in each of these rankings or see what other universities made the ranking lists.


President Laurie A. Carter speaks in front of Main Hall during a new student welcome event in September. Carter was named Lawrence's 17th president in March and began her tenure July 1. (Photo by Danny Damiani)
Most-viewed Lawrence stories of 2021: Arrival of a new president leads the way
From the early March announcement of a new president being named to Lawrentians doing amazing things on and off campus, there has been no shortage of Lawrence stories to tell in 2021.
The Lawrence community (and beyond) has been hungry to read about it every step of the way. We perused the analytics so we can share today the 20 most viewed stories of the year. The list includes new faces, creative approaches to the pandemic, and the brilliance of our students, faculty, and alumni.
If you missed a story earlier, take a look now. If you read it already, take another look as a reminder of the many reasons Lawrentians are brighter together.
1. Laurie A. Carter named 17th president of Lawrence University; begins July 1
"As a sitting president, I am well aware of the challenges facing higher education, but I know the Lawrence community is ready to work together to continue the traditions of excellence while ensuring a bright future for the students, the university, and the community." – Laurie Carter
2. 10 new tenure-track faculty join Lawrence University for 2021-22 academic year
"I am absolutely thrilled to be welcoming such a talented, dedicated group of scholars to the Lawrence faculty. Our new colleagues will fortify strengths in existing academic programs and help us develop new areas of focus." – Catherine Gunther Kodat
3. Lawrence debuts new athletics logo; Viking ship gives nod to school history
"The ship is the perfect illustration of our great campus, and having the antelope, shield, and LU all part of the design connects every corner of our campus. This is a logo for all who love and support LU; I believe it represents all of us." – Tony Aker
4. Lawrence places high in value, teaching, first-year experience in U.S. News rankings
"Lawrence's faculty are not only terrific scientists, artists, and scholars—they are also first-rate teachers. It's extremely gratifying to see them receive this much-deserved national recognition for the extraordinary work they do with their students." – Catherine Gunther Kodat
5. "Impressive" class welcomed to campus on busy opening day of student orientation
"This class has some of the strongest academic credentials we have seen in a long time. Considering that they have performed at such a high level while learning in the midst of a pandemic speaks volumes about the resilience and readiness of our newest Lawrentians. They are going to do great things." – Ken Anselment
6. 17 things to know about No. 17: An introduction to President Laurie A. Carter
"I want to eat cheese curds; I want to do it all. Snowmobiling, too. I want to try that. I really just want to get a sense of the culture; the unique things about Wisconsin. I can't wait. I'm very excited." – Laurie A. Carter
7. Kenyon's Robyn Bowers to join Lawrence as its new dean of admissions
"Lawrence's rich liberal arts tradition, commitment to the arts, emphasis on diversity and inclusion, and welcoming community create an extraordinary learning environment." – Robyn Bowers
8. Mayes joins Lawrence as vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion
"To realize the unique value of a liberal arts education, you need to have an environment where people feel welcome, where people feel supported, where people can bring their authentic self to the classroom, to campus, and their presence and contributions are welcomed, valued, and celebrated." – Eric Mayes
9. "Dedicated and richly talented:" 10 Lawrence University faculty earn tenure
"The breadth of ability and skill represented in this year's tenure 'class' is truly extraordinary, both in terms of individual achievement and in how those achievements support our broader efforts to expand and enhance our curriculum to support diversity, inclusion, and excellence." – Catherine Gunther Kodat
10. Lawrence lands on The Princeton Review's 2022 list of best colleges in nation
"While being considered one of the best is great, we're even more excited that The Princeton Review continues to acknowledge the important work we do every day on behalf of our students, which is providing top-notch preparation for a meaningful life after college, and doing so in a way that families can afford." – Ken Anselment
11. Five retiring Lawrence faculty members to be honored at 2021 Commencement
"What was true when I arrived in 1998 is still true today—you have to ask the question 'why?' over and over, in every class you take. And that goes for the professors, too. The 'why?' question is the central one in critical thinking, which is the essence of the Lawrence experience." – Jerald Podair
12. Great Midwest Trivia Contest carries on amid daunting obstacles, new rules
"It's very difficult to balance the needs of the contest with this year's restrictions, and, in some cases, we have had to make changes to trivia that go against tradition. Our main focus is making sure the contest happens this year and that it can be a positive experience for everyone." – Grace Krueger '21
13. Class of 2021 celebrated for courage, resilience: "You have shone brightly"
"Your responses have made you stronger, have tested your resolve, and have tempered you so that you will turn future challenges into opportunities. And you have validated the Lawrence experience as formative and essential to who you are, and who you will be." – Dr. John Raymond
14. Lawrence's beloved Rock is heading east, a gift to university's departing president
OK, this one was a little bit of April's Fools fun with departing President Mark Burstein. We were excited that people enjoyed it (if they read to the very end).
15. Pandemic canceled their sabbaticals; they channeled their rock star dreams instead
"The university stopped all travel. I was going to Scotland; Jake was going to Chicago. I also had a public art project that got canceled. My gallery shut down. The whole world shut down. That was the moment we realized, well, maybe we should record these tunes. We don't have anything else to do." – Rob Neilson
16. Lighting the Way With … Tom Coben: When Kimmel calls and statues dance
"I had a lot of very cool opportunities at Lawrence and I can honestly say that I don't think I'd be doing what I am doing today if my professors hadn't given me the ability to pursue my interests with as much freedom as they did." – Tom Coben
17. Sculpture adds visibility to journey of Indigenous people; brings new conversations, reflection
"I would hope the Indigenous community here on campus would see it as a place to gather, to have as a physical symbol that they are being acknowledged, and to open those conversations up about how land was acquired and who was Indigenous to it and how do we begin to reconcile that with one another." – Chris Cornelius
18. Building community: A study guide to Lawrence's 2021-22 First-Year Studies
"I would like to suggest that our experience of the pandemic has thrown a new light on the works chosen for First-Year Studies. They continue to serve as an ambitious introduction to the liberal arts, but we can now see a strong sub-theme of community that runs throughout these works." – Martyn Smith
19. "Raft of Stars," Lawrence alumnus' debut novel, arrives amid growing buzz
"Without Lawrence, I wouldn't be writing, hands down. It was an interest of mine. I loved books; I always loved reading; I loved daydreaming. But it was at Lawrence where I thought, yes, I really want to try this. I got so much guidance from professors like David McGlynn and (former Lawrence professor) Faith Barrett and others that I couldn't have done it without those years. It was absolutely informative." – Andrew Graff
20. Reframing of a music major adds greater flexibility for Lawrence students
"The beauty of this major is that it welcomes a much broader variety of music and music makers into the Conservatory, and that's great news and more great music for everyone." – Brian Pertl
Bonus story: NIH fellowship lets Lawrence alum take her neuroscience research to new levels
"It wasn't just my science course work at Lawrence that has deeply shaped my career as a scientist today. It was that experience of being in the double-degree program, having to constantly negotiate being in two different worlds." – Katherine Meckel (This story isn't in our 2021 top 20 yet, but it's been our most-viewed story during December and is definitely worth reading.)
Read more: Best of 2021: We're highlighting 8 stories that speak to resilience, creativity at Lawrence


»Disinformati...
Disinformation and Elections to the European Parliament
SWP Comment 2019/C 16, March 2019, 8 Pages
doi:10.18449/2019C16
European Union, EU institutions, Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), Digital Policy and Cyber, Cyber-security, Democracy promotion, State and society of a country / a region
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Elections to the European Parliament (EP) will take place in May 2019. Politicians and experts fear that the election process might be disrupted by disinformation campaigns and cyber attacks. In December 2018, the European Commission presented an action plan against disinformation. It provided 5 million euros for raising awareness amongst voters and policymakers about manipulation, and for increasing the cyber security of electoral systems and processes. The strategy relies on voluntary and nonbinding approaches by Internet companies to fight disinformation. To protect the integrity of elections in the medium term, independent research into technical, legal and market-regulating reforms must be boosted. The objective should be to preserve the functionality of democracies and elections in the age of digitalisation.
The next European elections will be held in EU member states from 23 to 26 May 2019. Since right-wing nationalist and Euro-sceptic movements have gained in strength, there is already talk of a "defining election" that could decisively influence the future orientation of the EU. Euro-sceptic parties already account for almost one-third of parliamentarians, a proportion that might rise following the elections.
EP elections have thus far been seen as "second-rank elections" and therefore as a good opportunity by the electorate to teach the respective member state's government a lesson. This attitude fails to appreciate the mobilisation potential of the current debate on the pros and cons of European integration, the influence of third parties, and the growing importance of the EP. The elections are extremely significant for the strategic orientation of European integration. A success for EU opponents could push the EU to the very limits of its capacity to act, for example through further exit demands along the lines of Brexit, or a blockade of the complex decision-making process. The elections not only decide the renewal of the EP, but also the inauguration of the new EU Commission for the 2019–2024 parliamentary term. The EP influences the appointment of the Commissioners and can force the entire Commission to resign with a two-thirds majority and realign the Multiannual Financial Framework.
The EU's structure and functions are not easy to understand. European issues are unfamiliar to many, and it is relatively simple to spread false information about the EU. Considering the upcoming election, the European Commissioner for the Security Union, Sir Julian King, urged member states to "take seriously the threat to democratic processes and institutions posed by cyber attacks and disinformation" and to draw up "national prevention plans" to prevent "state and non-state actors from undermining our democratic systems and using them as weapons against us". This specifically includes disinformation campaigns and cyber attacks on the electronic electoral infrastructure, which can affect the confidentiality, availability and integrity of the electoral process.
Disinformation already appears to have had an impact in Europe: researchers at Edinburgh University identified over 400 false accounts on social networks, operated by so-called trolls based in St Petersburg, which were used to influence the Brexit referendum. Security and defence policy defines disinformation and cyber attacks as elements of hybrid threats, i.e. covert actions by third parties aimed at destabilising Europe or the EU system. The term "hybrid threats" usually refers to a form of warfare that remains below the threshold of using military force. This ambiguity generally complicates a military response according to international humanitarian law.
Disinformation Campaigns
Disinformation is not a new phenomenon. In security research it is regarded as "black" propaganda, since it seeks to influence public opinion from the shadows. It uses the same means as modern public relations (PR) and advertising campaigns.
In contrast to PR, however, disinformation wants to destabilise the pillars of democracy by attacking parties, elected politicians or the EU as a political system. Disinformation does not necessarily mean false information, since even true statements taken out of context can be misused for suggestive conclusions. Disinformation campaigns can be short-term, for example to influence an election result, or long-term, for instance to undermine confidence in the EU. Attempts can thus be made to discredit individual politicians so as to prevent them from being re-elected. For example, "negative campaigning" can uncover alleged scandals or make accusations of corruption. During the last presidential election campaign in the USA, automated computer programmes known as Twitter bots, probably of Russian origin, spread predominantly negative reports about Hillary Clinton and relatively positive reports about Donald Trump. In the medium term, this promotes social division and the polarisation of public discourse.
The negotiation of political interests in social discourses is the key element – but also the Achilles heel – of democracies. Tactics such as disseminating dubious claims ("muddying the waters") or constantly repeating large volumes of false information or conspiracy theories ("firehose of falsehood") are used to undermine political certainties and dissolve a socially shared concept of truth. One example was the reaction to the downing of a Malaysian passenger plane in July 2014: on social networks, there were attempts to discredit the investigation report which found that the Russian armed forces had caused the catastrophe.
IT-Enabled Disinformation
A distinction must be made between digital and IT-enabled disinformation: digital disinformation encompasses the entire range of digital mechanisms for disseminating information. IT-enabled disinformation, on the other hand, includes hacking incidents or cyber attacks that compromise IT security, namely confidentiality, availability and integrity of data or systems. The technical hack is only one of many means by which the confidentiality of information can be violated, for example by stealing sensitive information from the accounts of politicians, parties or officials and then publishing it with harmful intent (doxing). Well-known examples are the publication of e‑mails from the US Democratic National Committee (DNC) on the WikiLeaks platform in 2016 and from the Emmanuel Macron campaign team in 2017.
The restriction of the availability of technical systems via cyber attacks can facilitate disinformation campaigns as well. Especially in authoritarian regimes, websites of opposition politicians, parties and services such as Twitter and Facebook are deliberately paralysed shortly before elections by "distributed denial of service" attacks, meaning the deliberate overload of the server concerned. Similarly, the digital voting infrastructure with its voting computers and counting systems can be disrupted and manipulated.
Digital Disinformation
Digital disinformation has the advantage of having low costs while having a high impact: with few resources, a global audience can be reached with customised disinformation through digital technologies. Digital disinformation employs the legitimate means of the advertising industry to target users based on their individual behaviour profiles (so-called "targeted ads" and "micro-targeting").
Social networks such as Facebook were not developed for the purpose of democratic discourse, but to analyse and categorise their users' interests and behaviour, and sell this information to third parties for advertising purposes. According to their behaviour patterns, users will be shown content that other users of the same category or with a similar behaviour profile also prefer. Algorithms thus ensure that users are shown more of the same so as to hold their attention and keep it on the platforms as long as possible. These so-called filter bubbles arise directly from the business model of online platforms to bring advertising to as many users as possible. If the same opinions are grouped together and, simultaneously, differing views are hidden, a self-referential "echo chamber" can develop. In online forums that bring together only like-minded users, the latter's perceptions tend to be strengthened because they do not experience any contradiction.
Disinformation has a particularly polarising effect on already politicised groups with strong ideological stances. These can be deliberately targeted with conspiracy theories that fit their worldview. One example is the campaign against alleged rape by asylum seekers, the so called Lisa case of 2016. During the 2016 US election campaign, there were incidents where supporters of the right-wing Alternative Right movement and left-wing groups were separately invited via Facebook to take part in the same demonstration, in the hope of provoking a violent escalation.
Conspiracy theories and disinformation can quickly be shared worldwide over social networks. This can be accomplished using a mix of automated accounts ("social bots"), hybrid accounts (partly human, partly automated) and so-called troll armies or 50-cent armies. Such "armies" consist of state actors or privately organised commentators who systematically disseminate certain narratives in social media or on news sites. Often volunteers also unknowingly spread disinformation ("unwitting agents"). In the 2016 US election campaign, US citizens spread Kremlin propaganda without knowing its source. But traditional media coverage is also involved, as it increasingly takes up trending topics from social networks. If these contain disinformation, and the media carries them unreflectively, they reinforce the narratives or false reports. Disinformation has a cumulative effect over longer periods of time.
EU Counter-Strategies
Holding EP elections is the responsibility of member states. Although they are doing much to protect the integrity of elections, mostly this is in the form of patchwork measures. There are concerns that the EP elections will be manipulated, disrupted or unlawfully influenced by opponents of the EU, whether during the election campaign, at the ballot box or during the counting of votes. According to a Eurobarometer survey, 83 percent of Europeans are worried about targeted disinformation on the Internet. The EU expects that targeted disinformation campaigns will be present during election campaigns.
Disinformation Warfare
Since 2015, the European Commission has been attempting to combat disinformation and technical influences using foreign and domestic policy measures. It has, inter alia, increased staffing and funding for the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) and set up an East StratCom Task Force within the European External Action Service (EEAS). The Task Force documents and regularly informs about disinformation campaigns in the north-eastern member states. This was followed in 2016 by a Joint Communication and a Joint EU Framework for Countering Hybrid Threats. The Commission and the EEAS agree that such threats are increasingly causing trouble in the EU.
The EU defines hybrid threats as "a mixture of military and civilian warfare by state and non-state actors such as covert military operations, intense propaganda and economic harassment". These aggressions, it believes, not only cause direct damage and exploit vulnerabilities, but also destabilise societies and promote the division of the EU "through cover-ups". Internal and external security must therefore be even more closely interlinked.
Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, in his speech on the state of the Union 2018, proposed a series of concrete measures to ensure that the May 2019 elections are free, fair and secure. Among other things, he called for more transparency in (often covert) political advertising on the Internet, and the possibility of sanctions if personal data are used illegally to influence the outcome of the European elections.
Networks such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have agreed on a Code of Practice on Disinformation to combat disinformation and fake accounts on their platforms. In October 2018, this Code was signed by Facebook, Google, Twitter and Mozilla, as well as professional associations operating online platforms and the advertising industry.
Two months later, the Commission and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy presented an action plan against disinformation. Both launched the creation of an early warning system for information about disinformation. Five million euros and 50 staff positions were approved for it. The system is meant to be able to identify campaigns in real time and raise awareness of the problem.
Since the EU fears being misrepresented beyond its borders as well, other teams are monitoring the spread of misinformation in North Africa, the Middle East and the Balkans. Furthermore, it has set up an electoral network, elaborated a guide to the application of EU data protection law in elections, and given guidance on cyber security. As of February 2019, member states will be running a simulation of what would need to be done in the event of an attack. EU states rely on the exchange of experience. Further meetings are scheduled for spring 2019. In late January 2019, the Commission warned Internet companies that their transparency initiatives against covert advertising were not sufficient to protect the integrity of EP elections.
Cyber Security Measures
What is the EU doing about IT-enabled disinformation? Critical infrastructure protection has long been subject to EU regulation. However, member states were unable to agree on defining voting systems as critical infrastructure as part of the 2016 Network and Information Security (NIS) Directive. The IT security of voting technology was considered a purely national task. However, reports of alleged influence on the Brexit referendum and elections in France, Catalonia and Belgium, have increased sensitivity to the problem. In September 2017, the EU proposed a whole range of cyber-security measures, including a pan-European network of cooperation between data protection authorities, to share knowledge on how elections are influenced. Only in December 2018 did EU states agree on a cyber security law that will strengthen the cyber security agency ENISA, and for the first time create a certification framework for the protection of critical infrastructures.
When, that same month, a hacker published explosive data on Twitter under the pseudonym "0rbit", politicians demanded an "emergency plan to be able to react within a short time to the outflow of sensitive data, digital industrial espionage or sabotage". There are also calls for uniform minimum legal standards for the security of information technology equipment, which would mean replacing the voluntary certification framework of the EU by a European regulation. This would apply, for example, to end-user devices such as mobile phones and laptops. Providers of online services and manufacturers of devices connected to the Internet would need to design their products in such a way that users must choose strong passwords and update them regularly.
As well as making technical infrastructures more robust, the EU relies on operational cyber security measures. These include the development of better attribution capabilities for cyber attacks, an exchange of information, and a stronger role for Europol in the fight against cybercrime. If member states become the target of such attacks, they should be able to find out for themselves where the attacker came from, which security gaps were used, and which data was affected or extracted. The discussion will focus on harsher penalties for cybercriminals and new criminal offences, such as the operation of criminal infrastructures. With principles such as "security by design", i.e. the development of hardware and software that seeks to avoid weak points and manipulations from the outset, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) contains a further building block for action against cyber attacks and disinformation. In January 2019, the EU also agreed on a relevant law that allows for fines to be imposed on political parties and foundations that violate data protection rules in the European election campaign in order to influence voters. Parties can even lose all claims to EU party funding. The reason for this regulation was that Facebook had passed on user data to the British company Cambridge Analytica, which evaluated the data records of 220 million American Facebook users to create user profiles for targeted advertising.
Cyber Security in Elections
What measures are being taken to ensure the confidentiality, availability and integrity of electronic voting systems? Following reports alleging that the US elections were unlawfully influenced, the Council of Europe's Venice Commission has been in close contact with the electoral agencies of the 61 Council members. Electronic voting systems in member states vary widely. Electronic voting in the EU has so far only been used in Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia and France. In Belgium, Flemish municipalities in particular use voting machines. In Bulgaria, such machines will only be used in smaller polling stations in the 2019 EP elections. In France, the use of voting machines was suspended during the 2017 presidential election due to the alleged incidents in the US election. In other countries, such as Germany or Austria, voting is exclusively by ballot paper, with information technology being used to determine the election result. The security of the IT systems is therefore essential when establishing the provisional election results. Estonia is the only country in the world that allows online voting via the Internet.
Overarching assessments of the technical vulnerability of electronic voting systems are not possible, as EU countries use different voting computers and systems. However, since all voting computers can be manipulated, experts recommend a physical paper printout for each individual vote. In July 2018, under Article 11 of the NIS Directive, representatives from 20 member states prepared a compendium on the cyber security of elections. They called on member states to put in place specific security arrangements and contact points for an overarching European cooperation network.
If individual constituencies experience irregularities during the actual voting, or technical problems with the vote count, elections in individual countries could be held again at short notice without the need for the entire European Parliament to be re-elected. A cyber attack on a member state would mean that the allocation of seats in the EP could not be confirmed immediately. Targeted cyber attacks launched by third countries on individual elections can be sanctioned by the EU applying its Joint Diplomatic Response (Bendiek 2018). A comprehensive and serious attack on the EP elections would be seen as an attack on the EU. Under certain conditions this would allow the use of the solidarity clause under Article 222 TFEU or even the mutual assistance clause under Article 42 para 7 TEU.
Promoting Independent Research
The EP elections decide on the new composition of the European Parliament, but election rules are a national responsibility. In many EU countries, local electoral authorities are responsible for conducting the election. Although they are aware of the danger of disinformation and cyber attacks, they are not sufficiently technically prepared for them. The credibility of the EP elections and thus of the EU is at stake. European policy-makers prefer short-term and more technical measures in close cooperation with Internet companies to combat disinformation and hold cyber-security exercises. Research on causes, however, is lacking. The findings of the various independent interdisciplinary research programmes on disinformation, cyber attacks and the conditions of democracy must therefore be taken into account more closely.
Hybrid Threats?
There is competition for responsibilities and resources between security and defence policy on the one hand, and domestic policy on the other. From the perspective of defence policy, the phenomenon of disinformation belongs in the category of hybrid threats. But narrowing the subject in this way is not sufficient. In a 2017 congressional hearing, heads of American secret services rightly stated that disinformation represents a new normal. According to NATO and the European Commission, Russia leads the way in the targeted dissemination of false information, but more than 30 other countries are also involved. Governments mandate think tanks and non-governmental organisations to provide analyses, so there is no shortage of relevant reports. The American Alliance for Securing Democracy, for example, or the Digital Forensic Research Lab, financed by the Atlantic Council and Facebook, concentrate their work primarily on Russia and China. Think tanks and political foundations dealing with disinformation must identify clients and financiers of their projects so as to avoid suspicions of partiality.
However, false information does not only come from countries outside the EU, but is also disseminated within its member states. Political activism, especially from the anti-European spectrum; the pretence of a grassroots movement ("astroturfing"); and the role of the tabloid media are at least as significant as external attempts at influence. Their impact on Brexit, for example, probably outweighed that of Twitter bots, which only has a user adoption of 17 percent of the British population.
The effectiveness of digital disinformation has not been scientifically proven. Recent studies on the relevance of filter bubbles have come to diverging conclusions. Empirical data indicate that users deliberately choose certain formats and contents that differ from those of the established media. Filter bubbles of dissent do not seem to arise because users are unaware that information can be one-sided or false. Rather, the explicit interest of users in divergent opinions seems to be the decisive factor, accompanied by a steady loss of trust within democratic societies in political and public institutions. The idea that filter bubbles are deliberately formed and controlled is reinforced by the fact that it seems to be small groups that spread "alternative facts", disinformation and manifestly false reports in a particularly vocal way. The fear that digital algorithms could largely destroy social communication is thus probably exaggerated.
The EU's technical measures to combat disinformation campaigns and cyber attacks are only a first step. Ideally, they will direct member states to try to improve protection for the EP elections during the election campaigns, the actual voting and the vote count. Constant exchange and regular cyber security exercises are necessary to minimise dangers. However, most member states have so far failed to consider elections as a critical infrastructure for democracy and to secure them at a high level. Manufacturers and suppliers of critical IT products therefore urgently need to be made more accountable. The problem of unsecured IT hardware and software in voting technology is still underestimated. In the long term, the EU must also be enabled to respond strategically, communicatively and with technical effectiveness to attempts at manipulating elections, and must be provided with the necessary financial and human resources. Until this goal has been achieved, emergency teams can be deployed around the clock during the elections.
The Supremacy of Internet Companies
It is questionable, however, whether the weaknesses of European democracies as discussed above can be addressed effectively with short-term task forces and medium-term action plans. Linguistic research shows that mere fact checking is more likely to inadvertently reinforce false information. The effectiveness of automated artificial-intelligence systems in combating disinformation is also overestimated. Obviously, it is unrealistic to hope to eliminate false information completely. Instead of tackling symptoms, it would be useful to promote independent research to analyse proposals for short-term technical and policy measures. These should provide the blueprint for fundamental reforms in the data economy.
Google's global market share of 80 percent of all search queries and Facebook's and YouTube's market share of 70 percent in social networks are an expression of the unprecedented concentration processes within communication infrastructure. Alongside the growing importance of digital audiences, communication in society is shifting towards a market-orientated arena where every "speech act" or announcement has its price. Private companies provide spaces for public digital discourse; access to them is controlled. Only those who enter into a private contractual relationship and make their contribution either financially or in the form of commercially usable data have a say.
These social networks were developed for marketing purposes and do not cater for unconditional democratic participation based only on citizen status. They are comparable to a situation in which the parliament building is owned by a private provider, access to it is regulated according to economic criteria, and the loudspeaker volume and transmission of speeches to the outside world are assessed in line with market conditions. The EU's previous regulatory approaches, for example its insistence on voluntary commitments, do not do justice to this concentration of power. The Council and Commission were right to criticise the code of conduct currently in force. It contained "no common measures, no substantial obligations, no compliance or enforcement measures". When the personal data of numerous German politicians were illegally published in December 2018, the online platform Twitter dragged its feet despite its voluntary commitment under the code. Large platform providers have hardly any competition to fear in Europe, meaning that a fundamental reform of the antitrust legislation is the last resort. Previous procedures for the evaluation and control of monopolies have often been inadequate.
A key problem is merger control. Large companies buy burgeoning smaller competitor start-ups before they can become a threat to their business model. A striking example of this is Facebook's acquisition of WhatsApp and Instagram, and its merging of user data, against former promises not to do so. Election advertising on television and a stall on the high street are no longer what decides elections, but rather artificial-intelligence technologies such as microtargeting. These are used to specifically address voters who are willing to change their minds and who can often tip the scales. Only the EU, with its economic power as a whole, can fight the power of transnational digital corporations. In this context, the EP elections are a historic turning point: European policy means tackling the major fundamental issues of the European communication order, such as the control of platform monopolies and excessive communicative power. During EP election campaigns, political parties and organisations must commit themselves to bringing transparency to their campaign activities and to preventing the use of social bots.
Dr Annegret Bendiek is Senior Associate in the EU / Europe Division at SWP.
Dr Matthias Schulze is Associate in the International Security Division at SWP.
© Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, 2019
This Comment reflects the authors' views.
SWP Comments are subject to internal peer review, fact-checking and copy-editing. For further information on our quality control procedures, please visit the SWP website: https://www.swp-berlin.org/en/about-swp/ quality-management-for-swp-publications/
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik
German Institute for International and Security Affairs
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Telephone +49 30 880 07-0
Fax +49 30 880 07-100
www.swp-berlin.org
swp@swp-berlin.org
doi: 10.18449/2019C16
Translation by Tom Genrich
(English version of SWP‑Aktuell 10/2019)


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Arthur Mac's Tap & Snack, a fast-casual restaurant with a beer garden, will be a part of a larger development on MLK Jr. Way and 40th Street next to the MacArthur BART station.
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Salsipuedes is finally up and running in North Oakland's Longfellow neighborhood. Come along with NOSH as we take a first look at the menu.
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West Oakland's Continental Club has a new owner, the Wolfhound Bar opens, and much more in this week's Bites.
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With Salsipuedes, Jay Porter hopes to bring the first farm-to-table restaurant to Oakland's Longfellow neighborhood.


MGibster said:
Oh, no. This means D&D is going to buy a sports car and start dating RPGS young enough to be its daughter.
Worse - hair plugs
Reactions: grimslade, Joshua Randall, Henadic Theologian and 1 other person
J.Quondam said:
Interesting point. That could partly explain the push to "de-authorize" OGL1.0, since it's existence might diminish the dollar value of the D&D IP, at least in the suits' lizard brains?
I just don't believe suits even knew what the OGL really was before all this happened. Someone told them it was some minor obstacle to be swept aside, and then touched it and got severely electrocuted. They still don't understand it, they just understand that people are really mad and they don't seem to be getting less mad, and it's getting them a ton of almost-unprecedent negative press.
Reactions: JEB, Dausuul, JAMUMU and 7 others
It doesn't help that TTRPGs of movie/comics IPs have, with rare exceptions, been extremely poorly chosen for people who want an experience akin to the movies/comics.
WEG D6 Star Wars would have been great as "Andor Simulator", but it was what, nearly 40 years before Andor? Weirdly very influential on later Star Wars stuff, but not through the rules.
WotC's d20-based SW was just wildly inappropriate for anyone who liked SW. It was just D&D in low-rent cosplay.
The more recent SW game I haven't played, but the people I know who have thought it was a cool SF game, but not really a Star Wars game.
Marvel actually did start out decently with FASERIP, which, for '80s Marvel made sense, but got completely abandoned by TSR, just as comics were starting to get big again. MSHAG arrived after comics got big, and was an innovative design, and before its time, but totally failed to lean into what made late '90s comics big. I love Cortex but the Cortext-based Marvel game that was more recent was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too fancy for a general audience, conceptually, and the most recent Marvel game? It's explicitly not MCU (mistake, imo), and has a wildly overcomplicated and bizarre system.
There's been a persistent failure to engage with what people actually want out of games of those settings, I'd suggest. Marvel FASERIP was the only one that really got close, and was very much "of its time".
Reactions: MNblockhead, Parmandur and Citizen Mane
James Gunn is nuking the DCEU from space, over the next few years it'll be deader then the Arrowverse.
A better comparison would have been MCU/Spiderverse (they are connected now as I count them as one), Wizarding World, Avatar, Star Wars.
I think DDCU could be competitive with early Phase 1 MCU, Star Trek, Transformers, DCU, and some others. If things go really well over a decade then maybe they can compete with the MCU Phase 3.
Sure but they only got him in to even nuke it because it's so valuable it's better nuked and reborn than left how it is. I hope he preserves The Batman somehow though, that was great.
Sure, all of which are a lot larger than D&D for now. I expect if JKR doesn't cease her idiocy D&D will eventually pass WWoHP - at this point WB have to be praying she gets eaten by a crocodile or something, because it would literally significantly increase the long-term value of that IP (by allowing new material and for it to be rehabilitated).
I dunno. Some of those movies made incredible amounts of money, despite some of them being terrible. I think a lot rides on how much HAT makes, and it's kind of looking like might be a little tricky at the box office right then. Like the relevant movies I can see around it are:
March 10 - Scream VI
March 24 - John Wick 4
March 31 - D&D:HAT
April 7 - Super Mario Bros
So D&D:HAT kind of only has at best a week where it's clear, even assuming people pick it over John Wick 4 (it does have a broader audience but still), because I think Super Mario Bros' audience is going to cross over extremely heavily with D&D:HAT's, and that won't favour D&D. And Super Mario is one of those movies where people will go even if the reviews are extremely negative, whereas D&D:HAT could be impaired by anything but very positive reviews.
Reactions: Parmandur, deganawida and jasper
"Say no more, boss."
Reactions: MNblockhead, Lyandelill and Ruin Explorer
Yeah, I think Hasbro is hoping that the synergy goes the other way, like with Marvel. Way more folks watch the movies than read the comics.
Reactions: EthanSental, UngainlyTitan and Haplo781
MGibster
You can check out some of the sourcebooks from WEG's Star Wars and see how they still continue to influence the franchise today. They had an Imperial Sourcebook that outlined how the ISB worked and it would fit straight into Andor with no problem. I skipped the d20 Star Wars because, as you say, it was low-rent cosplay, but I did go with the FFG Star Wars. One of my major criticisms of FFG's Star Wars is that there are so many separate skills and ability trees that you can't really make a good pilot/gun fighter like we see in the movies. The other is the obsession with equipment and upgrading them.
Reactions: ThrorII, Azzy, Parmandur and 2 others
Hogwarts Legacy is #1 on Steam and Playstation and #2 on XBox. For every person boycotting like 10 who aren't even Harry Potter fans buy the game.
The most effective tactic for dealing with her is to just ignore her if your unhappy with her, she feeds on your angry and profits from it. Don't let her use you as free advertising. Just friendly advice from a 3rd party observer whose not a Harry Potter fan who don't follow her on Twitter (I didn't buy the game, for my own reasons, not boycotting).
Reactions: Mirtek
One of my major criticisms of FFG's Star Wars is that there are so many separate skills and ability trees that you can't really make a good pilot/gun fighter like we see in the movies. The other is the obsession with equipment and upgrading them.
Yeah that's the sort of thing I was hearing - both are completely at-odds with how the movies (or TV shows) portray the universe/experience, and to me it's bizarre someone would think that was okay.
I mean, dumber things have happened - c.f. Witcher 3 CRPG where Geralt, a man who literally never changes equipment except out of necessity, upgrades his gear 24/7 like it's Diablo 3. But at least that was a video game so had more of an excuse.
#2 behind FIFA23 on Steam actually at time of writing.
And think how it would be doing if the HP legacy was unstained by naked bigotry and increasing general idiocy? ("Wizards poop in a corner and use magic to clean it up" lol for god's sake Rowling.)
Not only would the boycotting people be buying it, but tons more would too. I don't buy that any significant number of people who "aren't HP fans" are pre-ordering it though. Not before reviews, that's just people lying about who they are if they're claiming that. It's just that there's an entire generation of HP fans who've never even seen an HP game that looked good lol. That's millions and millions and millions of people. It's not like it's up against heavy competition either - the new FIFA and Football Manager are literally the only other new games in the top 10. Honestly it's more shocking that Modern Warfare 2 is at #5 despite being months old and at full price.
I take it you are not part of the minority she wants dead and gone? Ignoring don't work when she's already massively helped with turning England into TERF island.
Reactions: Azzy and Ruin Explorer
I'm of the opinion that the cultural footprint of D&D shrinking would be better for the game as a whole.
Reactions: mamba, ThrorII, J.Quondam and 1 other person
Dioltach
Wait, is this what I have to look forward when I turn 50 next week?
Actually, this one's far more likely.
Reactions: Reef, Henadic Theologian and masdog
Agreed. It's bizarre how much of the UK's TERF idiocy issue can be laid squarely at her doorstep, because she mainstreamed it, with the able help of the Tories and the BBC. It's also one of the most age-split issues in UK history, with basically no-one below 40-45 agreeing with the TERF nonsense, and relatively few people above 70 agreeing with it either, though they're mostly very confused by the whole thing. Just this weird core of mostly-Gen Xers who are maximum TERF. The Tories (and their minions the BBC - c.f. the BBC chairman "loaning" Boris £800k a few weeks before being appointed lol) tried to promote the issues in an attempt to split Labour (a tactic which worked on Brexit), but all they've managed to do is make Labour vaguely TERF-y as well, because most of its politicians are Gen Xers.
It's pretty relevant to D&D's current issues too, because it illustrates how quickly laws can change when the right people want them to. Less than 5 years ago we were looking at actively at long-overdue pro-Trans reforms. And our previous Prime Minister (well, two PMs ago, but the last one lasted like a month) was pro-Trans even a year into being PM. But as soon as it became a potential political tool, that all changed.
Reactions: ReshiIRE, Azzy and Lyandelill
Reynard said:
I agree with this, but that ship has sailed. D&D has gotten too big, and Hasbro will do everything they can to squeeze every last dollar out of the property. We've all been reminded that, in the end, Hasbro is no different than any other corporation, and revenue/profits is the bottom line, so everything they do will be towards that end.
That is the tragedy of D&D: it is the industry leader, but also the only game whose course is set entirely on corporate profits. Obviously all, especially bigger companies like Paizo, are directed by profits, but none--except Hasbro/WotC--make their decisions entirely and only based on profits. Paizo et al still seem at least somewhat directed by love of the game itself.
This is why people should never, imo, be happy or impressed when WotC makes this or that statement about "listening to the fans" because, in the end, they only "listen" when they feel to do otherwise negatively impacts their revenue stream. It isn't unlike a habitual liar only admitting to lying when they are caught.
FrozenNorth
Agreed. It's bizarre how much of the UK's TERF idiocy issue can be laid squarely at her doorstep, because she mainstreamed it, with the able help of the Tories and the BBC.
I'm conflicted. On the one hand, I agree with you. On the other, you called the Tories able and I think the last 3 years have demonstrated they are anything but.
Reactions: Cadence, Parmandur, Lyandelill and 1 other person
…but worse for the people who make a living from 3rd party adventures and products.
FrozenNorth said:
Worse than WotC burning that entire market segment to the ground?
Mod Note:
Politics. Please stop talking politics, folks.
Reactions: JEB, FrozenNorth and deganawida


WAYNE MADSEN: The War Between Globalists And Populists
Globalists, EU banksters, "elites," corporate criminals, "mainstream media" frauds are doomed as The People rise up
WAYNE MADSEN REPORT
By Wayne Madsen
As much as the pro-globalism pundits and opinion makers, many of whom masquerade as journalists, hate to admit it, the neo-Cold War nurtured by Barack Obama, Francois Hollande, David Cameron, Angela Merkel, and Matteo Renzi – is now over. The new war is between the forces of globalism and populism.
U..S. President-elect Donald Trump
The end game for the globalists is a unipolar world in which the decisions are formulated in Washington with the bureaucracies in Brussels, London, The Hague, and Berlin acting as the implementers. Although the corporate media has reluctantly re-branded them from "far-right" to "populists," the political forces that are opposed to globalism are fighting for a multipolar world where national sovereignty, majority cultural and religious rights and customs, and domestic industrial protection rule the day.
Two elections on December 4, the Austrian presidential election and the Italian constitutional referendum, provided a degree of mixed results for both sovereigntists and globalists. Austrian nationalist presidential candidate Norbert Hofer lost to the chain-smoking Russo-Estonian immigrant Green candidate Alexander van der Bellen, not because Hofer was considered too right-wing, but because he began to waffle at the end of the campaign on core issues.
Hofer changed tack and began saying positive things about the European Union and Austria's continued membership in what has essentially become the "mother of all bureaucracies." The Austrian election results did not reflect van der Bellen witnessing a sudden surge of support but because Hofer's most ardent supporters deciding to stay home after the Austrian Freedom Party (OVP) candidate began adopting a pro-Europe stance. Hofer originally said the following about the EU after the successful Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom to exit the union: "If the answer to Brexit is a centralized European Union, where the national parliaments are disempowered and where the union is governed like a state, we would have to hold a referendum in Austria."
Hofer underestimated the opposition in Austria to the EU and its championing the free flow of migrants across European borders. After Hofer altered his position to claim that he was in favor of "a stronger union," his anti-establishment supporters turned their backs on Hofer, believing him to be just another spineless politician. Hofer could only muster 46.7 percent of the vote to van der Bellen's 53.8 percent. In the first presidential election in May 2016, which was invalidated by court order because of vote counting irregularities, Hofer received 49.7 percent of the vote to 50.3 percent for van der Bellen. On December 4, Hofer saw his support drained in rural areas of Austria, where anti-EU and anti-open borders feelings are predominant. As in rural England and Wales and rural America, it is in the all-but-forgotten hinterlands where national sovereignty and cultural protection are key issues. The power elites ignore and ridicule rural and small town populations at their own peril.
The globalists wrongly saw Hofer's defeat as a rejection of populism. Their ill-informed opinions were somewhat dashed when the Italian electorate decisively rejected a plan to increase the powers of the prime minister, reduce the powers of the Senate and presidency, and return to the national government certain powers granted to regional governments.
Rejected: Renzi
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, an EU fan and a globalist poster boy, vowed to resign if the referendum failed and fail it did.
Renzi announced his resignation as exit polls indicated that his referendum, which was spurred on by Eurocrats in Brussels, was faring badly.
The globalists, of course, claimed not too much should be read into the Italian results and that they were unconnected to the Brexit vote and the surprise election of Donald Trump in the United States.
The Italian "No" campaign received the support of young voters across Italy. The "No" coalition included left-wing members of Renzi's own Democratic party, the populist and anti-EU Five Star Movement (M5S), the nationalist Northern League, Forza Italia of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and former Communists who now gravitate to the Sinistra Italiana (SI) movement. Only European unionists and globalists with their heads buried in the sand failed to understand that what occurred in Italy is part of the same epic tide against global elites that shook Britain and the United States.
EU now in irreversible death-spiral
Austria was not part of the populist parade because Hofer chickened out on his opposition to the EU and, thus, sacrificed his populist credentials. The Austrian presidency is a ceremonial position that lacks any significant power. In the first half of 2017, when Austria is to see national parliamentary elections, the OVP leader Heinz-Christian Strache will not make the same mistake as his party's presidential standard bearer. Recent opinion polls show that Strache and his party is favored to win the parliamentary election with Strache favored to become Austria's next chancellor, succeeding the lackluster Social Democratic chancellor Christian Kern.
Most Austrians continue to bristle over the overturning by an Austrian court of the conviction of a 20-year old Iraqi male refugee who raped a 10-year old Austrian boy in a swimming pool. In his defense, the Iraqi claimed he had a "sexual emergency." Van der Bellen and his starry-eyed Green and Social Democratic supporters may have sympathy for the Iraqi rapist, but for Austrians who put country and faith over boutique social causes, the countenance by an Austrian court of such behavior was the final straw. Strache has not strayed from his demand that Austria's borders be controlled, unsuitable and illegal migrants be deported, and diktats from Brussels be ignored.
The pro-globalist news media, in advancing the notion that Brexit, the U.S. presidential election, and the Italian referendum were mere flukes and that the real story is the Austrian presidential victory for the pro-EU van der Bellen, conveniently omit two elections held between the U.S. election and the Austrian and Italian polling. On November 13, two pro-Russian presidential candidates defeated their pro-EU rivals in Bulgaria and Moldova. Because the victories of Rumen Radev in Bulgaria and Igor Dodon in Moldova did not fit into the globalist propaganda template, they are not considered as being part and parcel of the populist and sovereigntist wave sweeping through Europe.
CNN, BBC pro-Remain frauds and purveyors of fake news will pay the ultimate price for their lies and bogus EU propaganda
In April and May of 2017, French National Front presidential candidate Marine Le Pen will square off against conservative pro-EU status quo enthusiast Francois Fillon, a former prime minister, and the current Socialist prime minister, Manuel Valls, an immigrant from Spain. Fillon and Valls are trying to advance their candidacies with an increasingly anti-EU and anti-immigrant French electorate. However, Fillon and Valls are late-comers to the cause of French sovereignty. The dalliance with the EU and global bankers by both Fillon and Valls are suspect, at the very least by the French electorate. Just as members of the working class Italian left voted against Renzi's referendum, a fair number of French working class labor unionists, who have, in the past, voted for the Communists, can be expected to opt for Le Pen over the two corporate candidates.
In other European countries, anti-EU parties are now part of the electoral makeup of national parliaments and delegations in the European Parliament. Hungary's Jobbik, which received 21 percent of the national vote; the Danish People's Party, which also saw a 21 percent share of the vote; and the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which saw an impressive 14 percent of the vote in the Berlin state election in September of this year, are forces to be reckoned with. German chancellor Angela Merkel, worried that her open-door policy on Muslim migrants may cost her dearly in next year's election, adopted a plank from the AfD in recently announcing that she favors a ban on the Muslim burqa and niqab in Germany.
Merkel and her slave labor importation scheme are doomed
Merkel, who addressed her Christian Democratic Union party congress in Essen, also said she would never again repeat her "mistake" of opening Germany to an influx of migrants. Former UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage commented on Twitter that Merkel's newly-adopted policy was "Too late. The horse has bolted."
Too late, indeed, for Merkel. The chancellor's feeble attempt to adopt a populist line comes after a 17-year old Afghan migrant, known only as "Hussein K," raped and murdered 19-year old medical student Maria Ladenburger, whose father is a high-level EU official in Germany.
Globalist "elites" wave goodbye as they and their plan for world enslavement fades into oblivion along with them
The German people, just like other Europeans, as well as Americans, have had enough of such outrages and will not forget that many Germans, especially women, would never have been raped, or murdered by jihadists, as in the cases of Ladenburger and other Germans, had it not been for Merkel's welcome mat to crazed migrants from the Middle East, South Asia, and North Africa.
Investigative journalist, author and syndicated columnist, Madsen has over twenty years experience in security issues.
As a U.S. Naval Officer, he managed one of the first computer security programs for the U.S. Navy. Madsen has been a frequent political and national security commentator on Fox News and has also appeared on ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, CNN, BBC and MS-NBC. He has been invited to testify as a witness before the US House of Representatives, the UN Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and an terrorism investigation panel of the French government. A member of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and the National Press Club, Madsen is based and reports from Washington, D.C.
Posted in: "Mainstream Media" Cover-Ups,"Mainstream Media" Lies,BBC Propaganda,CNN Frauds,Donald Trump,EU Collapse,EU Robber Barons,Wayne Madsen Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook
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Home / News / Government & Politics / State Government
Iowa secretary of state expects voter fraud investigation results soon
Aug. 8, 2013 3:34 pm
After a couple of "hiccups" getting started, a state investigation into voter fraud is "moving in the right direction" and Iowans will begin seeing results soon, according to Secretary of State Matt Schultz.
"We had a couple of setbacks, but we're doing the best we can," the first-term Republican said while in Coralville Wednesday.
Shortly after the investigation began, a Division of Criminal Investigation agent assigned to look into voter fraud allegations was called to active duty in the National Guard and a second agent had to be assigned to the cases.
"It's been like trying to use a shovel to move a mountain," he said. "Quite frankly, we could use more resources, but I anticipate having answers soon."
The investigation has not been without detractors. Chief among them is Democrat Brad Anderson, who wants Schultz's job. Anderson, who worked for former Gov. Chet Culver and was state director of Barack Obama's re-election campaign, has called the investigation a waste.
"Look," Anderson said Thursday, "any secretary of state should be diligent about going after voter fraud. But he should go about it without disenfranchising voters."
Anderson prefers to detect voter fraud or other irregularities at the front end – when Iowans attempt to vote – through the use of expanded electronic poll books "rather than spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax money after the fact."
He also noted that Schultz's investigation has yet to produce a single conviction.
"Trust me," Schultz said, "I hate sitting back and not having results right now. But I'm confident in the DCI and its ability, and I'm confident that we will have results."
Results Anderson would like to see are more Iowans voting. Rather than make voter fraud his sole focus, he said Schultz should spend more time and effort getting the 600,000 eligible voters who didn't participate in the 2012 election to the polls.
As to Schultz's suggestion that there is a "mountain" of voter fraud, "I leave that up to him to prove," Anderson said.
"There're certainly a lot of potential cases," Schultz said, explaining that in 2010, there were 3,582 potential non-citizens registered with more than 1,000 of them casting ballots.
"I've always taken the approach that I don't want to accuse somebody who is a citizen of committing a crime," Schultz said. "There were more 3,000 cases to look at, so I do believe that is a mountain."
Johnson County Auditor Travis Weipert hasn't seen a mountain of voter fraud in his seven months in office. The key is the voter's intent – whether they meant to commit fraud.
"I'll be curious to see what his investigation provides us," Weipert said after meeting with Schultz Wednesday.
In Linn County, Auditor Joel Miller said that since the November 2012 election 100 election misconduct cases have investigated by the Sheriff's Office. So far, there is court action pending on four and three people have been convicted.
He's looking forward to the results of the DCI investigation so he can update his voter registration rolls.
"I don't think any auditor wants people who are not eligible to vote on their lists," Miller said. "I don't see why anyone would think it's OK for a non-citizen to vote. My wife is from Ecuador and I'm pretty sure if I went to vote when we're down there I would end up in jail."
Reporter, The Gazette
Covering politics and government in Eastern Iowa, and the Iowa Legislature. Subscribe to my podcast.
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